AN OSWESTRY woman whose holiday was cancelled as she and her family were about to board a plane has slammed the troubled tour operator TUI.

Jenny Gray, from Oswestry, was set for a trip to Turkey last week and had reached the point of boarding at Manchester Airport when it was announced that the flight was to be cancelled and cases to be returned.

The flight was one of many to be cancelled by the operator who have blamed a shortage of staff following the pandemic, with more holidays at risk.

Jenny, speaking to The Advertizer from a boarding queue after Hays Travel quickly arranged another holiday through Jet 2 – thanking both for their efforts – says the lack of communication from Tui has been a 'disgrace'.

"We arrived at the airport and were greeted by lots of Tui staff all smiling and they couldn’t do enough for you," said Jenny.

"Our cases were weighed, passports and Covid passes etc were shown and all sorted ready to go through to security.

"Then an update saying we were delayed by two hours, couldn’t go through to security yet because it was too early and to go back after a couple of hours.

"We thought that’s fine, we just hung around by the queue and eventually got through after an hour of waiting.

"Many flights were cancelled but not ours. We were then told our flight was delayed again."

Jenny added that alarm bells began to ring upon arrival at the gate when there were very few, if any, Tui staff to be seen.

She added: "We got to our gate and it all seemed a little strange because there were no staff to be seen.

"Then after an hour or so a guy made an announcement saying it might take a little longer to board because the plane is being cleaned and he would give us another announcement soon.

"We could see the Tui plane through the window but no one to be seen; another announcement the flight has been cancelled and at that time everyone felt numb."

Jenny added that passengers were made to wait another two hours for baggage and had been waiting three years to enjoy the holiday.

She also thanked Hays Travel and Jet 2 for their support, highlighting the communication from the latter throughout their booking experience compared to no contact from Tui.

She added: "Tui have treated people appallingly."

In a statement following recent disruption, Tui said: "We would like to apologise to our customers who have experienced flight delays and cancellations in recent days.”